TW:TIH
"You know, for some reason, that whole scene kinda fell flat for me," Dick shook his head as the scene changed to Ross' chopper as it's rotors hit lift-speed. "I mean, sure, I feel a bit vindicated now that Sterns' been shown to be as fruity as I suspected but aside from that…" He shrugged and took a bite from Zatanna's proffered Pringle.
"I think it's the foreshadowing that killed it," Kara suggested. "Sure, it's okay to show Blonsky getting grabbing Sterns and threatening him and all but Sterns played into it a little too much for-"
"Aw, that's just beautiful," M'gann gushed at the sight of Bruce kissing Betty's hands, the duo's love irrepressible even with their present location. "It's like they can't even see the soldiers around them."
"It's not that they can't see them; it's that they don't care," Barry explained with a smile that Wally knew his mentor reserved for Iris. "They may have gone through some pretty crazy things but that's just all the more reason for them to cherish whatever time they've got together and damn anyone who says otherwise."
"Talking from personal experience there, Barry?" John asked with a teasing grin that turned to full blown laughter when the Speedster readily nodded his agreement.
Whatever else they would have said was cut off when the scene returned to Sterns' lab.
As the Watchers focused on the scene playing out, Sterns inserted a vial of Bruce's blood into his machine just as the lights beamed down on an already strapped in Blonsky.
As with Banner all those years ago, the machine lined itself up over Blonsky's forehead before beginning the irradiation process.
"Oh crud," Raquel swore softly as the computers began to blare a host of warnings. "Hulk's gonna be in for one hell of a fight when this is over."
"Something caught your attention?" Kaldur asked quietly as Sterns ran about frantically, trying to keep the systems running as Blonsky began to groan in pain.
"It's something Sterns said," She muttered. "Banner's transformation was as a result of his serum reacting to the irradiation process right?"
"That's what we've been led to believe, yes."
"Well Blonsky had the serum and he's going through the irradiation process now but he's also got a pint of Bruce's blood being injected into him."
"… do you think…?"
"I mean, it's definitely a possibility."
"This is what I've been trying to explain." Sterns grunted as he fought to fix the deteriorating machine, his voice barely audible over Blonsky's snarls and growls as he confirmed Raquel's theory. "I don't know what you've been ladling into yourself…" He was just about to move to another console when a new sound joined the cacophony: a distinctive crackle of elongating bones that drew his awed attention. "… but clearly it worked!"
If Bruce's transformation into the Hulk had been shocking then Blonsky's was simply unearthly: his feet grew, twisting and morphing into a dull gray-green shape with razor sharp talons; every bone in his body broke and healed back at insane speeds, transforming much like his feet had until his body grew to a size rivaling that of the Hulks. Unlike the Jade Giant, this… Abomination… didn't stop there: the bones at the elbows and knee protruded past the skin and, as the creature loomed over the cowering scientist, a plate of spiky, bone-armor grew out over its spine.
"I think this means you were right," Kaldur whispered to Raquel as they watch Sterns' shoddy attempts at convincing Blonsky to return to the table.
"I almost wish I- ooh!" She -and nearly everyone else in the room- winced as Sterns' words earned him a vicious backhand that had him cracking his skull on one of the machines. "Screw the movie conclusion; now I really wish I was wrong!"
As the dazed scientist lay there, the now fully-transformed Blonsky let out an ominous chuckle as he made his way out of the facility, unleashing his newfound might on the poor soldiers that had once been members of his squad.
However, the bad news didn't end there: a few feet above Stern's prone form lay one of the 'Mr Green' tubes, filled to the brim with synthesized 'Banner-blood.' A single drop of that liquid -which had spilled over the edge of the bottle when Sterns had crashed into the shelf support- had meandered its way down the side of the bottle to fall straight down.
"Of course it landed on Sterns' one open wound!" An exasperated Artemis threw her hands into the air. "Because one stupid huge CGI monster v CGI monster battle just wasn't enough!"
"I'm going to be honest here, Artemis, I'm actually interested in how this whole thing would play out," Barry said, sounding more than a little intrigued. "So far we've seen how the serum -and, by extending that a bit, Banner's blood- works when it's been injected into a recipient: enhanced strength, agility, speed and recovery time right?"
"Yeah…?" Though she was the only one to respond it was clear that everyone was just as interested in the older Speedster's words.
"Well, in Blonsky's case we saw that the injection of the serum is done in such a way that it ultimately circulates the body, empowering everything it touches."
"So… you're wondering how it would affect Sterns' mind?" Conner frowned at the thought. "I guess he would gain a couple of IQ points but this was one drop; it can't be that bad."
"I strongly disagree with you on that, Conner," Diana replied, a heavy scowl marring her beautiful features. "The saying knowledge is power has deeper meaning than many often ascribe to it: one's understanding of a thing gives them a greater degree of control -or leverage- over that thing."
"My… my dad… he used to say something like that to me whenever we practiced; it was why he was always reading old tomes and stuff." Dick subtly pulled his girlfriend closer and she gratefully leaned into the quiet support he offered. Talking about her dad was still a major hang-up for her. "He said we all had access to the magic, it was just a question of understanding how to make it work that made one person seem stronger or better than another. It was why older magic users always seemed so much more powerful than their younger counterparts: it wasn't that they just had more power, it was that they understood how to use what they had more and more effectively."
"That's an excellent way to explain it, Zatanna," Diana nodded. "Now, we already know that Sterns is not the most stable mind around-"
"And that's putting it mildly," Artemis interjected with a roll of her eyes.
Diana simply nodded. "If the serum synthesized from Banner's blood is even half as effective as the serum Blonsky was injected with then we're looking at a man with arguably a genius-level intellect being enhanced even further but without any of the moral restraints a stable mind would have."
"And we already have a decent clue to how bad an unrestrained genius could be," Kara growled. "Luthor."
No one present could argue with her: they had -in one way or another- come to learn a great deal about the Man of Steel's most persistent foe and they all knew that there were very few lines Luthor wouldn't cross to get what he wanted.
"Yet Luthor's got a cold sort of practicality to himself," John Stewart muttered. "He does what he does with a cold detachment but he's never really unhinged. Sterns though… He'd probably watch the world burn if he felt it would get him the results he needs."
The scene changed from the chilling sight of Sterns' almost deranged smile to show the mutated Blonsky tearing through the facility, destroying everything he could lay his hands on and cutting down the unfortunate soldiers that tried to put him down like they were little more than wet cardboard. As Blonsky ramped up his property destruction count, a pair of soldiers moved in, guns held at the ready as one of them radioed in:
"Delta Four to Leader! They still got two of our guys. Two of our guys, Blonsky and the major, are still inside." The soldier's words were cut off as the transformed Blonsky landed on the street across from them and continued his power-drunk rampage, punting a police cruiser right down the street.
The pair of soldiers joined up with a pair of cops and chased after the creature as it turned the corner. Seemingly echoing around them were the cries and screams of dying civilians as the chaotic rampage continued, underscored by frantic calls for support by police officers and hastily thought-up and discarded ideas of the higher ranking soldiers.
The ground about them was littered with the dead and dying and, upon inspecting one of those poor victims -a fellow soldier who had died in the line of duty- one of the soldier's grim visage became stony with frustration and rage. Wheeling on his squad, he pointed at two of them and gestured to the ATV in the background. "You! You! Drive!" They quickly piled into the vehicle and the driver revved the engine. "Let's go! Move, move!" As the tires crunched over the gravel, the soldier relayed the situation via his comms. "Delta 4 to Leader. Something big just went off down here!"
"Understatement of the bloody century." Wally muttered as the scene shifted to the General's chopper.
"General, you should hear this!"
Frowning, Ross made his way over to the pilot and took the headset, listening with mounting disbelief to the seemingly insane claims coming from his troops.
" The Hulk is in the street. I repeat, the Hulk is in the street."
"Wait a second… they think that's Banner in there?!" Conner gaped at the seemingly stupid conclusion the soldiers had quickly reached. "Weren't they there when Bruce got rolled out on a stretcher?!"
"I don't think they've forgotten," Kaldur stated, a small frown knotting his eyebrows as he tried to figure it out. "No, they almost certainly haven't forgotten."
"So how do we account for this spot of memory loss?" Raquel asked.
"I think they're playing a guessing game," Wally suggested. "They know something strange happened in Sterns' lab involving the guy that could turn into the Hulk. They don't know the details but they would likely associate it with Hulk-related stuff. Add that to whatever they'd have heard from the comms -and they haven't seen the new guy yet, remember- and they aren't wrong for jumping to that conclusion."
"That's impossible." Ross turned to stare incredulously at Banner, who caught and returned the stare, before returning to the radio: "Get a hold of yourself young man, you get it together. What is your position?"
Though he spoke with a quiet tone, his terse posture and stiff shoulders quickly gave him away to his daughter who could, at this point, tell when her father was being secretive from halfway across the world.
"121st Street, heading north on Broadway!"
"Turn us around!" Ross ordered.
"We're going back." Bruce stated as the chopper banked around. It was just a statement at first, then the meaning of his own words hit him and he frowned. "Why are we going back?"
Elizabeth had no clue: like him, she had steeled herself for a lifetime incarceration, stuck in some isolated research facility with Bruce as the scientists tried to decipher the secrets of the incredible transformation he possessed. She had been formulating ways to get her father to put her on the research team so she could, at the very least, help to shut down any and all truly bizarre ideas the other scientists would come up with so she was just as lost as he was. At that point, all she could do was turn to her father and hope he had some answers.
Ross, however, was a little too busy to notice his daughter's stare as his eyes roved over all the screens, searching for a clue to what was going on. "Damn it, give me eyes down there!"
"Yes sir!" The squad leader in the ATV quickly turned on his helmet-camera, performing a sweep of the area.
"What the hell was that?!" The second soldier yelled as the skies in the distance were lit up by a roiling fireball, the result of a powerful explosion.
At this point, everyone on board the chopper was on their feet, staring at the scene unfolding below with a palpable air of tension stifling the helicopter's interior.
The ATV blitzed through the streets, keeping track of the rampaging monster with the kind of reckless abandon that could only be found in borderline psychotic gamers. Smashed cars, crushed bodies, not even the blowing out of a tire deterred the soldiers as they relentlessly kept track of the vaguely visible monster. In the end, they were able to catch up to it, and those in the chopper watched as the vaguely Hulk-like shape did its level best to tear the city apart.
Ross could barely keep himself from ripping his hair out by the roots: he could see with his own eyes that Banner was right in front of him yet the roars that had consumed his every waking moment for more than a year now kept playing through the speakers, almost mocking him with the savage glee he could detect in them.
"I think he's beginning to realize that he might have made a mistake," Kara muttered. While a little part of her felt an almost sadistic glee at the man's 'I fucked up!' expression, it was submerged beneath the much-greater part that wept at the unnecessary loss of innocent lives.
"I hate to say it but it's a little too late for regrets now." Oliver grimaced. "If Banner can't do anything then they are screwed."
For the first time since his transformation, the camera showed a slow close-up of Blonsky's new form, revealing that while it shared a similar height and build as the Hulk, it was quite different as well: a slightly paler skin-tone, a more skeletal form than Hulk's bulging musclebound body and a vastly more savage look with those strange bone-like extensions. Just before the scene changed, the Abomination let loose a fear-inducing roar before grinning darkly.
"This is just nuts…" Dick swore softly as they stared at the carnage Blonsky wrought. "Why the hell do they all mess the users' minds up so much?!"
"What are you talking about?" Kara asked, her hyper-acute hearing easily picking up the muttered question and forcing Dick to repeat the question to everyone's hearing.
"Bane's Venom, Kobra Venom, the Blockbuster formula and now this Super Soldier serum… they all grant the users superhuman abilities but the cost is always their minds: Bane loses his self-preservation instincts and any higher reasoning ability the more Venom he uses, the BB and KV formulas both turned their users into brainless, hyper-aggressive brutes-"
"That's not exactly the case here, though." Barry interjected. "Sorry for cutting you off there but this Super Soldier thing doesn't necessarily follow that pattern."
"Er… Barry?" Wally piped up, "The Hulk is literally a rage machine."
"Yeah but it doesn't lose its self-preservation instincts like Bane does," Artemis pointed out, to which Raquel nodded and continued, "Yeah, and there's more than a little intelligence in the Jade Giant too: remember how it fought in the Brazil? It stuck to the shadows where it could and used the environment to its advantage. Plus, it cares for Betty and, while it's stuck with the emotional range of a three year old, it showed a very good understanding of how to handle Betty without hurting her."
Barry snapped his fingers and pointed at the girls. "Exactly: the Hulk may not seem like it but there is an intellect behind all that rage, which makes him so much more dangerous than Mammoth or Blockbuster. I'd rank early-stage Venom-Bane just slightly above him because, at that stage, Bane's natural cunning is amplified by the enhanced strength. He probably wouldn't beat Hulk in a straight up fight but he'd be a far tougher chess player to beat, so to speak."
"Okay, I can agree to most of that," Dick nodded slowly. "But what does that have to do with anything I said?"
"You lumped the Super Soldier serum up with KV and Venom in terms of their effects right?" Dick nodded and the elder Speedster continued, "Well, the way I see it, there's one huge difference between our super 'roids and the MCU's: ours gives power in exchange for the mind but theirs unleashes everything inside the users."
The Cave was silent for a moment as they processed what they had just heard.
"But… isn't unleashing everything inside them precisely what makes them crazy?" M'gann asked, getting Barry to smile.
"Not quite. First, though, let's get something clear: Banner doesn't fit what I'm about to say because he never used the recreated serum."
Now that triggered a more vocal response, ranging from Kaldur and J'onn's quiet mutterings to Wally's loud, "Sorry Uncle B but I think you missed some very important parts of the movie!"
"According to Ross, Bruce was working on recreating the Super Soldier serum, right?" When they nodded, Barry continued, "Well, he said they had some promising results but if Bruce used the only vial he created on himself then…"
"Then Blonsky's using something else!" John gasped as comprehension dawned on them.
Barry nodded. "And the differences are pretty clear: where Banner's mix created a split personality inside him, the Soldier Serum pretty much enhances everything that made Blonsky… well, Blonsky."
"The competitiveness, the drive to always find the next fight… it's all Blonsky, just dialed up to an eleven." Zatanna whispered. "Which means…"
"Which means he was always the monster we're seeing now," Kaldur stated quietly. "Now he just has the means to show the hidden side of himself to the world."
In the helicopter, Banner and Betty stared in horror at the screen, wondering what the hell the General had been cooking up. However, neither of them could have felt anywhere near the level of pure shock that Ross did upon seeing what Blonsky had become.
'Because it has to be Blonsky,' The General thought grimly. 'I should have seen it: the lust for power, the battle madness… what the hell have I done?'
One look at the man who could have been his father in law and Bruce knew exactly who that monster had been. "One of yours?"
"Oh my God." The question had Elizabeth jerking around sharply to stare at her father, horrified not only by the accusation but by the fact that she knew damned well that Bruce was right. And the look on her father's face sealed the case. "What have you done?"
Ross could only stare mutely at them, unable to lift the proverbial finger in his own defense.
On the ground, the battle continued: some cops focused on rescue and evacuation while the others -aided by the soldiers- tried their best to at least keep the monster busy while the others worked. Sporadic bursts of gunfire cut through the air only to clatter to the ground after stopping dead against the Abomination's skin. Moments after each shot was taken, the shooters died, their torsos caving in with each hit.
The squad aboard the ATV could only stare with muted horror at the scene unfolding before them and one of the soldiers had to ask: "You think a rifle's gonna hurt that?"
"It'd be like hitting Supes with a paper bullet," Oliver grunted. "Laughable."
"Come on!" Rather than quail at what they were witnessing, the other soldier turned to the rear of the vehicle and flipped a compartment open, revealing a sleek looking, regulatory 'in case of emergencies' RPG.
"Sweet!"
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news but..."
"Hulk casually tanked two shots from the chopper back at Culver," Raquel continued, picking up from where Artemis stopped. "I'd lose all faith in the rest of this franchise if Discount-Hulk over there-"
"Abomination," Zatanna corrected.
"-got dropped by one measly RPG."
"Well," Conner sat forward as the soldiers prepped the weapon and trained it on the monster's broad back. "We're about to find out."
The weapon belched its payload out with a loud hiss and the rocket streaked through the air, rapidly closing in on its target.
However, just before it hit, the monster -with reflexes far surpassing anything remotely human- turned and snatched the still smoking rocket right out of the air.
"Damn! Looks like he might have faster reflexes that- WOAH!"
The rest of the Cave stared in shock at the Abomination's looming, evil grin framed in the flames of the explosion it had just set off with its face .
"You know… I know that Clark and I can casually do stuff like that-"
"Pretty much the whole world knows that," Wally muttered. "I saw some fanart that had you smoking an ICBM."
Kara blinked, mentally struggling to process the idea that she could use something that dwarfed her as a cigar. "… weird fanart aside, the point is: while Clark and I could do the whole 'I eat explosions for breakfast' it's still pretty chilling to see this guy just- just eat an RPG round."
"It's the psychological factor."
"He's playing mind games with them." Dick turned to M'gann's uncle and gestured for him to continue.
"Beyond the obvious physical similarities which -as we have seen- has many of those soldiers thinking of the Hulk, Blonsky wants to show that he is as strong and as unstoppable as the Hulk. He wants to tear down these soldiers' hope, to fill them with such despair that they can barely think straight."
"And straight up tanking the most powerful weapon they have on hand is one hell of a way to do that." Oliver concluded.
Onscreen, Abomination turned his dark grin onto the stunned soldiers and he began to move toward them: slow steps at first, followed by a gradually increasing jog that quickly translated to a ground eating lope.
"Get out of there now, Soldier!" Ross' sharp command snapped the soldiers out of their shock and had them scrambling to hit the reverse in a bid to get as far away from the new monster as they could.
They were doomed to failure before the tires even began to spin: with a blown-out tire, it would take them far too long to get to the required speed to even have a hope of maintaining their current distance from the monster, to say nothing of actually escaping. Still, they pushed on, battling the swaying vehicle to maintain a semblance of some control as they tried to get away.
In the end, the chaotic state of the city, coupled with their own desperate haste, created the perfect circumstance for their downfall: the ATV crashed into a long abandoned car, grinding their progress to a halt.
The monster vaulted over the last set of cars with Olympian agility before coasting to a stop before the ATV, casually flipping over an out-of-control taxi with the ease of a pro-skateboarder.
Hefting the taxi into the air, the monster stared right at the helmet-cam and sneered.
"Give me a real fight!"
"He's lost it."
"At this point, I'd argue that he never had it," Wally rejoined, shaking his head at Zatanna's statement. "Especially if Barry's theory is right -and I'm beginning to think it is."
The chopper was dead silent: even the sounds of the rotor blades slicing through the air seemed faded, distant, after the sheer brutality they had just witnessed.
A single thought ran through each and every mind present: what do we do now?
"Sir?" One of the soldiers, a much younger one than the others, quietly voiced that unspoken question, drawing attention from all corners to the General who had not a clue what to do.
He had no answer to this, Ross admitted to himself. He had helped create the monster down there with one hand while hunting down the one possible weapon he might have had against said monster with the other hand. 'I've fucked us over,' He thought wearily. 'And now I have to be responsible for so many more deaths.'
"Tell them to bring everything they've got," He stated quietly. "And head for Harlem."
They all knew it wouldn't work: the Hulk had shown them exactly how effective anything less than a nuke was against a foe of this caliber.
The had just begun to accept that they were headed to their own deaths when Bruce finally spoke up.
"It has to be me."
"Dammit Artemis! You ruined it!"
"Wait! What the hell did I do?!" The archer cried, quickly batting away the trio of chips that came flying her way.
"You're really asking that, miss 'Big-CGI-monstah-battle-coming-up?'" Raquel asked, shooting a mild glare at the blonde.
"Oh come on! We all knew where Sterns' little 'permanent-temporary fifty-fifty' bull crap was headed! You can't blame me for that!"
"I can when it spoils my reaction to this!"
Artemis stared at the dark skinned girl for a few seconds before pinching the bridge of her nose. "You are the worst."
"That aside, I gotta give Banner points for sheer balls," John stated. "He can't be sure that he's still got the Green Guy stuck in him; if his little gamble fails…"
Five words. Five simple words yet they left everyone present gaping.
Misreading the silence, Bruce reiterated: "You have to take me back there."
"What- what are you saying?" Betty stammered, "You think you can control…"
"No, no, not control it," He quickly corrected her. "I don't know, maybe aim it?"
"That kinda takes a shine off his bravery points," Wally muttered. "I mean, if he thinks he can aim it, doesn't that mean he already believes he can still access it?"
"He's hoping for a miracle as much as Ross and the others are right now." J'onn stated. "He's hoping he can use the very thing he has long thought of as a curse for a good purpose this time."
"Except he has no way of knowing if this will work," Wally frowned. "I thought he was some kind of genius: he should be pushing for a logical plan, not holding out for a 'miracle!'"
"Says the walking miracle," Artemis jeered teasingly.
"Except I actually put some thought into what I did," He argued. "I didn't just chase the nearest lightning bolt after dunking myself in a vat of volatile chemicals: I did the math! I only attempted that when I felt the margin of error was-"
"What, ninety-nine point five percent?" Artemis shot back, gradually growing more and more annoyed by her boyfriend's holier than thou tone. "Because I know you, Wallace; you're as impetuous and impulsive as they come and that has nothing to do with your speedy feet."I'll have you know that not everything on God's green Earth revolves around science! Magic exists as do flat out miracles! And even if they didn't, you might wanna remember that hope is pretty much the only reason we're even here, Baywatch! Because not even six months ago, a bunch of kids had to go up against the most powerful beings on the planet and we came outta that because we had a shit-load of plot armor, aka luck aka things just happening to go right for us also known as a goddamned miracle !"
For a moment, the Cave was pin-drop quiet, all eyes focused intensely on the blonde.
"Sorry," The apology was quietly muttered as she sat back down -' And when the hell did I go from the couch to standing?!- "It's just… I get the pros of always having a plan and all, I just can't believe that the world is purely based on ones and zeroes. Hope is important."
"Artemis is most correct," J'onn smiled at the archer. "Hope is vital to us all; after all, just as we are the manifestations of our forebears' hopes, so too do we hope to leave a legacy that our descendants will look upon with pride."
"Yeah… I think I didn't say that right." Wally apologized. "I didn't mean Banner was wrong to hope for the best, I just… I don't exactly like the idea of doing something and just expecting a positive result to just happen. I know it's possible-"
"But your inner-scientist can't accept an over-reliance on that," Barry nodded in understanding. "I'll admit to being a bit more of the hopeful sort myself but I also appreciate a well thought-out plan of attack."
While everyone chipped in with their own opinions, Artemis' thoughts drifted over to the real reason she had reacted so vehemently to her boyfriend's words: after all these years of fighting to hold her family together, she had reached her wits end and could only pray for a miracle so listening to Wally had triggered her old defenses.
'Are you okay?'
A quick glance at M'gann's concerned stare had her breath hitching but she forced herself to remain composed. 'I'll explain later. For now… let's get back to the movie.'
" We made this thing." Bruce stated pleadingly. "All of us."
"I have no idea who he's talking about here," John scoffed. "Ross played a part, looking for his Super Soldier so devoutly and one could argue that maybe Bruce and Elizabeth did a tiny bit thanks to their efforts at developing the serum but saying they made it? That's just bullshit. Blonsky did this to himself: his insecurities, his lust for power and 'the next big fight' are what got him there."
"Please."
For a few moments, the General remained mum, staring into Banner's eyes, searching for a hint of duplicity. Upon finding none, he turned to the pilots. "Land us near it."
"No, no! No." The outburst had the General turning, a reprimand already on his lips. "Keep us high. Open the back door."
That had everyone stumped and the pilot mutely popped the hatch.
"Wait!" Zatanna's eyes grew to the size of dinnerplates. "He's not going to-!"
"Stop!" Elizabeth cried, having figured out his intentions before anyone else. "Stop. What are you doing? Think about this. You don't even know if you'll change." He tried to step around her but she quickly shifted to block him again. "You don't have to do this, please. This is insane."
"Betty…" His voice cracked just a bit here but he forged on. "Betty I've gotta try." Reaching forward to embrace her, he planted a gentle but oh-so-heart-achingly-emotional kiss on her lips "I'm sorry."The instant she had begun to relax in his arms, he pushed her back and fell out of the chopper before she could reach him.
As the ground rushed up to meet him, the scientist squeezed his eyes shut and searched his mindscape as deeply as he could, searching for a hint of the connection to that all-consuming rage that had become his most constant companion. He scoured every mental connection, every memory, hunting down the faintest trace of the Hulk… and he found nothing.
"Oh, shit!"
"Holy sh…!"
"Jesus!"
"And that was the end of Solomon Grundy," Oliver winced at the man-shaped crater in the ground.
"He's gonna be fine," Kara waved dismissively, not even remotely bothered by the shocking scene. "Aside from the obvious 'main character' plot armor, he was already Hulking-out before he hit the ground."
"Uh, Kara? I'm pretty sure he was missing any green tint in his skin," Conner stated.
"That's true," The older Kryptonian nodded before pointing out: "They were, what, a thousand feet in the air? Two?"
"At least," Dick confirmed.
Kara nodded. "Now I'm not a physicist or a biologist but I know that the human body is not durable enough to smash into the ground and create a crater as deep as pinkie. Creating something deep enough for Bruce's entire body to simply get swallowed in?" She shook her head. "If they really wanted us to think he was dead then he'd have splattered like a water balloon."
"…that's some very graphic imagery from you, young lady," John remarked. "What would your cousin think?"
"He'd think I was right and you were being unbearably stuffy," Kara rejoined, rolling her eyes at the teasing comment. "Seriously, though: they're just pushing the build-up element of the coming fight: there's no way they'd kill Banner off so soon."
The quiet aboard the chopper stood in perfect counter-point to the madness on the streets: while the General and his daughter stared with bated breath at the hole Bruce had created upon crashing, the panicked citizens ran about in terror, screaming and crying and generally not knowing what had happened.
Then, just as Betty moved to turn away from the painful sight below, a huge green arm punched its way out of the ground, followed by a low, rumbling growl.
"And that's why I wasn't bothered."
While the people continued to make a run for it, the now fully transformed Hulk dug his way out of the hole, the camera angle switching to show its rising form from behind, punctuated by that same, rumbling growl. Spotting the still-rampaging Abomination in the distance, the Hulk let loose a challenging roar that grabbed its rival's attention.
"Hulk." The Abomination snarled, tossing away some unfortunate victim it had laid hands on as went on the prowl.
The Hulk was just as eager to head forth, ripping away the tatters of Banner's shirt and quickening his pace until he was charging headlong at his enemy who matched him step for step.
"Game on," Conner muttered as everyone sat forward in an almost synchronous motion.
The Iron Man versus Iron Monger fight was still very fresh in their minds -those of them that had seen it- and they wondered how this fight would hold up.
They were not disappointed: the two gamma-powered giants leapt at each other with a terrifying battle roar, each seeking the upper hand on the other.
Knowing that the Hulk was more of an in-your-face brawler, Blonsky angled his lunge -at the last possible moment- just right so that he could switch from the leaping punch to a shoulder tackle without a wasted effort. The tactic worked to perfection and he slammed into the Jade Giant's torso with enough force to rival a C4 detonation.
"First hit Blonsky," Kara murmured.
With the Hulk caught so horribly off guard by the shoulder tackle, Abomination was able to position them so that the Hulk took the extra impact of their falling bodies before flinging the Jade Giant through a ruined bus, what felt like an entire city block and a garage worth of cars before he finally skidded to a stop by some parked cars.
The Hulk, utterly disoriented by the unexpected flight, could barely stand and was quickly forced to a knee. As he tried to recover, though, Blonsky's twisted form marched through the flames bearing down on its rival like the Reaper. His ugly features became uglier still when it stared at its rival with sadistic excitement. "Come on."
"If the Hulk plans on surviving this fight, he's gotta tap into whatever intellect of Banner it can access," Oliver frowned as he studied the scene. "That first hit pretty much knocked whatever confidence the big guy had in his own strength clean outta his skull."
"Well it doesn't look like he's on the same wavelength as you Oliver."
The Princess of Themyscira wasn't wrong: the Hulk seemed to devolve into a fit of blind rage, pounding the crap out of a still-intact Police Cruiser.
Seeing the glaring opening he had been given, Abomination raced toward the Hulk, intending to continue his earlier beat-down. As he approached, the Hulk turned around and the seeming madness of mere seconds prior became a testament to the creature's instinctive battle capabilities: wielding the wrecked halves of the cruiser like a pair of gauntlets and moving like a trained boxer, the Hulk turned the tables on Blonsky, striking with precision hits that quickly brought the pale imitation to the ground where the Jade Giant proceeded to wail onto the enemy, wearing down the cruiser until it was little more than a bent-out of shape steering wheel.
"Looks like the big guy's thinking along the same wavelength as I am," Oliver crowed, turning Diana's earlier statement against her.
"Dude he's got the mindset of a three year old," Barry stated with a deadpan expression.
"I know, right?" Kara continued, "Exactly what does that say about Oliver if he's thinking on the same wavelength as a toddler?"
The archer deflated immediately thus missing the conspiratorial grin Kara and Barry exchanged.
"I guess that would explain certain things about him," Artemis added somberly, barely able to hold back the onslaught of giggles she could feel coming on. "I wonder what Dinah would think about-"
"Okay, you've had your free shots," Oliver scowled playfully. "Let's get on with this."
Rather than stay down, though, Abomination simply spat out a loose tooth and sneered, "Is that all you've got?"
The Hulk snarled and wound up for a punch, drawing its fist back for a devastating punch… only to get punted away by a double-footed mule kick to the chest.
The Abomination was after him in a flash, leaping onto the wall of the apartment building and searching through the hole the Hulk had made for his enemy with such single-minded determination that he didn't notice the helicopter behind him.
"Here come the cavalry," Dick snorted. "Like they'll be any useful."
Aboard the chopper, Ross turned to a soldier that had mounted the mini-gun. "Use that thing, soldier!" He shouted, raising his voice over the din on the chopper blades. "Give him some help."
"Which one?!"
"Really?!" Zatanna goggled at the seemingly stupid question. "Well golly-gee, let's shoot at the big green guy that's risking his life to stop the monster Big Bad General Ross helped create! That's a really good-"
"It's actually a very valid question," John cut her off mid-rant. "You may have the benefit of being a watcher but for that soldier, he got drafted to work with a decorated general on a hunt for a rampaging green monster. Whether he knows how hyper-focused Ross was or not, his mission parameters until a few moments ago were to capture the Hulk. The lines are not as clear cut as you would think."
The Green Lantern was right: for an instant, a conflicted look crossed Ross' face as she battle with the old instinct to attack the Hulk. "Help the green one, damn it! Which one do you think?! Cut the other one in half!"
The chopper cabin lit up with the repeated muzzle-flash of the gun as the soldier let loose a hail of bullets that pounded away at the building the Abomination hung onto.
The bullets did nothing to harm it but they did pull its attention away from its Hulk-hunt. With a few leaps, the monster had climbed to the top of the apartment building, seeking a bit of cover from the relentless chopper.
On the ground behind the very same building, the stunned Hulk pulled himself out of the dumpster he had landed in. Hearing the continuous gunfire from above -and catching a quick glimpse of the Abomination as it leapt across buildings- set the Hulk ablaze with renewed determination and, with a growl that promised payback, he leapt onto the wall and started climbing.
"Keep it on him!" Ross commanded and the soldier obeyed, doing his best to cower the monster below them with his gun. By this time, the Hulk had reached the roof and was now bearing down on its enemy, a fact that only Betty seemed to have noticed as the Abomination broke cover and leapt at the helicopter.
The Hulk was on him in an instant, pushing the monster off-target just enough for the Abomination to grab the chopper's landing strut rather than having it plow through the body of the chopper. The Hulk pulled himself up and grabbed on to the Abomination's shoulder, digging its meaty fingers into the bony grooves on its enemy's back as they battled on. For an instant, it seemed like the Abomination had shaken the Hulk off thanks to a bone-rattling elbow to the temple but the Hulk regained sufficient presence of mind to swiftly latch on to Abomination's ankle.
As the two humongous creatures battled for supremacy, the chopper -and its human passengers- was jostled about dangerously , a situation that only got worse when the tail smashed through a roof-top signboard that forced them into a spin and had them losing altitude fast.
"They're gonna crash." Wally murmured, having spent the past couple of seconds running through the probabilities. "If they hadn't hit that sign and Hulk and Blonsky got off a bit earlier, the pilots may have been able to right the chopper. Right now, though, there's just no getting out of it."
"Let's hope Betty somehow gets out of that alive," Conner muttered. "Because boosted serum or not I just can't see Blonsky surviving that."
Eventually, the chopper came down in a less populated area of the city, Hulk bouncing off the edge of a building and crashing to the ground while Abomination was crushed beneath the helicopter. Miraculously, the chopper managed to grind itself to a halt and cease function without exploding.
As the Hulk groggily pushed himself up, his eyes rested on the mangled -but mostly intact chopper- and the camera angle zoomed in through one of the many holes on the fuselage to show that all but Betty had succumbed to the jarring force of the crash, leaving them either injured and unconscious or dead.
As she fought to regain her bearings, a pained groan and a slight movement caught her attention and she quickly turned to see where it came from.
"Looks like 'sterner stuff' is the Ross family trait," Raquel commented as the Doctor moved to her father. "They survived the first Culver Incident, he's still alive after so many Hulk-hunts and she has lived through two helicopter crashes."
"Two… oh! When Hulk shielded her from the falling chopper during the second Culver incident." M'gann nodded to herself.
"You know they're only alive because the story needs them alive, right?"
"That may be true, Artemis, but that doesn't mean Raquel's wrong either," Kaldur pointed out. "In fact, by keeping them alive through all the things she mentioned, the movie just cements Raquel's point."
"It all depends on your perspective," Barry summarized. "In-story, Raquel's right and they are pretty good at surviving practical death sentences; from a movie-watcher's perspective, you're right and they're cruising along thanks to the story's protection."
"Dad!" Though her muscles screamed at the slightest movement, Elizabeth pushed herself forward until she was directly beside him. "Are you hurt?" When he just moaned, her medical training kicked in. "Let me help you."
"Looks like Betty's not as pissed as she was anymore," Wally remarked.
"I am not surprised," J'onn stated. "For all that the General has been shown in a negative light through most of this movie I actually believe he was a far better father than one would think. If anything, the bulk of their fights has revolved around her father's treatment of her love interest, a situation I have often seen creating schisms within families on Mars."
"True…" Barry nodded. "Plus, Betty isn't showing her dad the kind of resentment, spite or anger that you'd expect from a seriously broken relationship; if anything she actually seems pretty cool with him about everything except her love-life. Stack that with her reaction and J'onn's case holds pretty well."
"I'm alright," Ross grunted, fighting the pain by sheer force of will. "Just find a way out."
"That's a good call," John nodded. "He knows how lucky they are that the chopper hasn't blown up yet so looking for a way out now is the top priority."
As she got up to obey -and as the Hulk began making his way to the helicopter- an old friend showed up, landing atop the chopper and growling ominously at the Hulk.
"Round three," Dick muttered.
The Hulk snarled at the Abomination before wading into the fight at full speed- only to once again get tackled off his feet.
This time, though, Abomination pinned him to a wall and held him there, trying to choke the life out of the Jade Giant.
While the battle raged, Betty struggled to pull herself out of the chopper, her task gaining a new level of urgency when she spotted a fuel leak from the chopper's tank spilling into a pool that lay almost directly beneath the sparking wires of the rotor blades.
She wasn't the only one to see this: in spite of Abomination's best attempts to strangle him, the Hulk's eyes were riveted to the chopper and -more importantly- the panicked expression on Betty's face. A fresh surge of desperate rage suffused the Hulk and he renewed his efforts at breaking free of his enemy's hold. He came pretty close to it too: distracted by the Hulk's frenzied attacks, Abomination glanced back at the chopper… before slamming the Hulk back into the wall and holding him there more firmly.
"You don't deserve this power," He growled, a condescending sneer twisting his already ugly features. "Now watch her die!"
"For God's sake!" Barry frowned as they watched the Abomination drive the bone spike at its elbow into Hulk's chest. "I get that the serum seems to magnify both positive and negative character traits but Jesus does it look like this guy's a complete piece of shit!
As the Hulk struggled to prevent Abomination from causing further damage, he caught sight of Betty's terrified expression. Even across the distance he could see that she was far more worried about him than her own fate.
The haunting green in the Jade Giant's eyes shone brightly as another wave of rage suffused his being, empowering him even further so that he began to overpower his enemy. As soon as he had gained sufficient breathing space, the Hulk slammed his head into Abomination's with a sound akin to clashing mountains, disorienting the pale bastard. Not willing to give him a chance to recover, the Hulk immediately grabbed the Abomination's back and reversed their positions, slamming the monster into the wall with even greater force. He was just about to begin wailing on his enemy when his ears caught Betty's whimper and he immediately turned to her-
-just in time to see a spark hit the fuel.
"Oh shit!"
Time seemed to grind to a halt at that moment: the effervescent vapors of the fuel distorted the air, creating little ripples as though they were under water; the spark from the rotor blades hadn't quiet died out yet, caught between the fuel and the air; Betty's expression frozen between her fear for him and the horror of knowing that she was about to die…
Everything accelerated in the blink of an eye: the fuel was set ablaze in a burst of light and heat that promised death and destruction to all within the chopper. At the same time, Hulk turned away from the wall, all thoughts of his enemy forgotten as he took a determined step forward and slapped his palms together in one fluid motion.
"WOAH!" Conner gaped at the screen, stunned by what he had just seen. "Did he just-"
"Yeah he did," Artemis nodded dumbly. "He just clapped the shit out of that explosion."
"How the hell-!" Raquel pinched the bridge of her nose, inhaled deeply and then exhaled. "Okay, let's get theoretical: who's got any idea what we just saw?"
"We just saw a big, green, gamma-radiation powered behemoth casually negate an explosion by, to quote my cute little protege, clapping the shit out of it." Oliver recounted wryly, earning a deadpan stare from both Artemis and Raquel. "What else do you want to know?"
"I think I understand what she means," Barry said, studiously ignoring Oliver's murmured 'Of course you do ya big nerd!' Turning to the dark-skinned girl, he said, "I'm not going to delve into the physics of what happened but my guess is, when Hulk was swinging his arms in, he cupped them together to gather as much air into them then, instead of simply slapping his palms together at perfectly parallel angles, he closed the V, so to speak." He demonstrated by first clapping his palms together at parallel planes before slowly clapping again, this time bumping the heel of his palms together before pushing the center and then the fingers together. "He'd basically be forcing the air out like a directed shock-wave. If he did that fast enough -with enough force, which he obviously has- he could maybe blow out and already burning flame."
"That may be possible," Kara grudgingly admitted before fixing him with an unimpressed stare, "but overpowering an explosion like that?"
"She asked for a theory," Barry shrugged. "Besides, is the flying, mountain-busting, nuke-tanking solar panel really the best one to complain about something pushing the boundaries of disbelief?"
Kara opened her mouth for a quick quip… before quietly closing it again.
Onscreen, an overawed Betty staggered through the shaking wreck to stare at her saviour, her eyes filled with gratitude.
That gratitude immediately morphed into fear when she saw a figure rising behind the Hulk.
"Look out!"
Before the Hulk could even begin to turn, the Abomination struck, smashing into his enemy's back with the heavy-duty chains it had picked up along the way. The Hulk struggled valiantly to fight back but his previous exertions, coupled with the damage being inflicted, quickly brought him to his knees, the Abomination standing victoriously over him.
At about that moment Betty was helping her father out of the ruined chopper, supporting his weight as much as she could. So focused was she on this task that she only realized the predicament the Hulk was going through when Abomination growled out a mocking greeting to her father. The next instant, he lashed out with a fist, sending the chain to smash into the chopper, scaring its only living passengers.
"Any last words?" The monster asked, words dripping with sarcasm as heprepared to deal the killing blow.
"Hulk..." Everyone's attention snapped to the infuriated Hulk as he pushed to his feet, an expression of murderous rage on his face. Lifting both arms up, the Jade Giant flung them down like the weapons of an enraged god, slamming them into the ground with a thunderous shout: "SMASH!"
"Ho Shit!"
It was as though a mini-earthquake had just occurred where the Hulk's fists met the ground: fissures rent the earth, traveling outward from the point of impact.
Yet, in a show of either insane luck or just untapped power, the cracks on the ground moved in a fairly direct path until they intersected at the exact spot the Abomination had just placed his foot, causing said appendage to sink into the ground. Unbalanced by the unexpected handicap, the Abomination staggered, losing his grip on the chains which then fell on him.
Seeing his chance, the Hulk grabbed one of the chains' ends and proceeded to choke the Abomination. It wasn't an easy task: the desperate Abomination bucked and fought like a raging bull, struggling to get free and landing a few hits but the Hulk just kept a firm grip on the chains. At a point, the Abomination managed to break free for a few moments but then, in a show of brutal vengeance, the Hulk ripped one of the monster's bony spiked and rammed it into his adversary's chest.
"Someone has to step in soon," Diana frowned as they watched the Hulk inch ever closer to killing the monster Blonsky had become. "I do not condone Blonsky's actions in any way but Banner -and Hulk- do not need the added public stigma that comes with murder added on to their already terrible reputation."
As the Hulk became ever more aggressive and focused on simply ending his for, Ross could only look on, cold shivers freezing him in place. Betty, however, could not bear the thought of her lover -or his big green alter-ego- becoming a murderer and so, worry evident in her face, she moved closer to the battling titans.
Neither monster noticed her, the final phase of their battle for supremacy so consuming that their senses seemed to ignore everything but their foe. Just as the Hulk began to push the Abomination over the threshold of death, however, a ringing, emotion-filled cry cut through the haze of berserk rage.
"STOP!"
Though Betty's impassioned cry pulled him back from the blinding rage, it was the teary look in her eyes -an expression that called out for him to return to her- that had him realize what he had very nearly become. The chains grew slack in his fists and the Abomination coughed harshly, struggling to maintain a grip on consciousness as he sucked in air.
As the military and police reinforcements drove onto the scene, the Hulk let go of the chains and dropped Abomination to the floor, pinning him beneath his foot in a mirror of what his enemy had done not too long ago. Then, to further cement his dominance, he let loose a thunderous roar, proclaiming his victory to every creature within a 3-mile radius.
"The alpha just took back his title," Conner smirked, noting how even Wolf seemed to cower at the sound booming through the Cave.
"Damn, that felt good." Kara sighed as she leaned back in her seat. "Not the 'almost killing Blonsky' part, obviously, but the fight itself. It showed how Hulk isn't just a mass of muscles without a brain and it pushed him to pretty reasonable extent."
"He had a bit of luck on his side, though," John remarked as the military slowly -almost respectfully- approached the General. "What, he just happened to generate a mini-earthquake that just happened to tip the scales back in his favour? Lucky much?"
"Luck is always a variable in battle," Diana stated simply. "It is a principle all warriors come to learn at some point or the other: the tide of battle can change with a simple, fortunate act."
"God, ain't that the truth," Oliver snorted. "I remember this one time way back when I started out in Star City: Tiger was in the middle of a heist and I'd just got the drop on him and his crew. Less than three minutes away from me bagging the whole lot and somehow, the bola arrow I shot at a pair of his goons just snaps mid-flight!"
"Wait," Artemis sat up, ignoring the sight of the Hulk delivering a spiteful kick to Abomination in favour of listening to this tale she had never heard from her mentor. "The arrow snapped? Or the-"
"Nah, it was the rope that snapped," He clarified. "I have no idea how but it did."
"That was just an example of how luck can alter the events in a battle fight." Diana took over. "Of course, cases where luck completely overrides the final outcome of an event are not very numerous as most skilled fighters and generals have contingencies for all but the most absurd situations. Still, it is important to expect the unexpected in a fight."
Betty quietly approached the Hulk, who only seemed to calm down the closer she got. The fact that they had a crowd watching them didn't even seem to register in their minds as they stood before each other.
"It's okay," She whispered, tears pooling in her eyes as she stared at him, knowing what had to be done. "It's okay."
"Dammit, why can't they stay together?" Zatanna asked, hiding her teary eyes beneath a fierce scowl. "I don't think Ross'll try to go after them any more, not after all that's happened now and Betty's shown that she can handle being with him-"
Kaldur shook his head. "Think bigger."
"What?"
"You have to think beyond Ross and Betty. Right now we know that Banner's blood can be used as the base to create something, potentially something groundbreaking. Details like that rarely ever remain a secret for long so Banner will likely be on the run for the better part of his life for that alone. There's also the fact that Banner created the original serum that resulted in the Hulk. That kind of knowledge makes him an asset for certain kinds of people-"
"And those kinds of people?" Dick shook his head in a manner that was jaded beyond his years. "The don't take no for an answer. I think Betty understands that and she realizes that it'd be easier for him to fly solo than have her tag along."
"It can't be easy for her to accept this, though." Kara noted sadly. "She's only just found him after so long… to lose him again?"
Touched by the depth of emotion he could feel from her, the Hulk reached out with a finger and, as gently as he could, he stroked down her cheek and wiped her tears. Then, with his finger still wet, he looked at her with the most gentle expression he could muster and spoke in as gentle a tone as he could.
"Betty."
"… that.. that was actually quite touching." Conner murmured to M'gann. "A lot more than them kissing or whatever."
"You're just so romantic, Conner."
Before anything else could be said, spotlights from a military chopper beamed down on him, getting everyone's attention.
With a resigned gesture the Hulk let out a growl before leading the chopper off. He shared a final glance with Betty before really moving, leaping over the buildings as the spotlight flashed into the camera and everything faded to white.
"Well, that marks the end of everything important," Barry hopped to his feet and let loose a loud, jaw-cracking yawn as he stretched. The other members of the League rose as well and began to walk toward the door. "I've gotta say, this was really fun. I might have to bring Iris in on this… or maybe start something for us back home."
"I think option two's the better choice," Kara remarked. "At least until we get the all-clear from the Great Bats that non-league members are allowed here."
"The Great Bats," Oliver snorted. "Oh Hal's gotta hear that one. Oh hey gu- oh~! Looks like our boy figured out a way to keep the glowy eyes without getting all pumped up."
The comment drew the attention of the rest of the League who asked for the scene to be replayed.
A man ran across a field, moving steadily toward a little shack that lay beside a river, a curlicue of smoke rolling out from its chimney. A location tag revealed the location to be Bella Coola in British Columbia.
After pouring himself a mug of tea, the man unwrapped a small package he had received from a David B. There was only one item within the package: a simple looking necklace.
"Wait- is that-?"
"It is," Wally confirmed as the man carefully placed the necklace into a pre-signed envelope. "That's the necklace Betty sold to get them to New York."
The man -a now beard-y Bruce- placed the mug of tea to a side before dropping into a lotus and slipping into a meditative trance.
As his hands began to shake, the countdown timer from earlier in the movie showed up again:
DAYS WITHOUT INCIDENT: 31
His shaking seemed to reach a fever-point and then his eyes snapped open, revealing the haunting green glow that came with the transformation yet retaining none of the other signs of his transformation. As the camera went dark, the lanky man smiled and the countdown changed a final time:
DAYS WITHOUT INCIDENT: 0
"Woah… If he's figured out how to keep the Hulk in at will then he could have a serious advantage when he's on the run." Kara mused. "Man I can't wait to see what happens next with him."
"Speaking of which," John turned to the Team, most of whom had begun the cleaning of the Cave. "When's the next movie?"
"Next week's busy for most of us so we were thinking upper week." Dick replied as he tossed a balled up wad of paper towels at the basket Wally held up. Just before it arced in, a second paper ball knocked it aside and bounced in. "Really Artemis?"
"Hey, you snooze, you lose."
Turning away from the kids' bickering, John said, "Looks like I'm clearing my schedule for upper week."
"I'll try but I may not make it," Kara sighed as they walked up to the Zeta platform. "Lord Enterprises will be having their annual expo and I drew the short straw with showing the noobs the ropes this time."
"Why not switch with Cat?" Barry suggested as Diana, John and J'onn teleported to the Watchtower. "Pretty sure she can cover for you."
"And steal my vacation for the next decade?" Kara snorted and walked onto the platform with him. "I'd rather sweat through this now."
Recognized: B-0…
‹‹‡››
And that's a wrap on this!
Sweet Jesus this was tiring. Between work, school and just… LIFE! I lost the vibe to write for weeks on end, merely pecking at the keys for moments on end to no avail.
Luckily, things slowed down enough for me to catch a break, resulting in this update to complete The Watchers: The Incredible Hulk.
I'm unsure if I'll have an epilogue a la Iron Man but you'll know if I decide to stick to that.
Fans of A New Life… Honestly, I'm not sure when that one's coming. On the plus side, I have more time to focus on that (I already crossed out over 4k words so that's also a plus) so I'm tentatively saying the end of April. Let's hope I can work those fights into something big enough to sate you all.
Thank you all for your reviews all through this.
Special thanks as usual to Lady Katana of the Blade and Mr War.
The Ethereal Lord.
/theethereallord
Your support is greatly appreciated!
Post Credits Scene!
"Are they gone?" M'gann whispered to Wally as the robotic voice of the Zeta Platform faded to silence. The question was quickly passed around and, when she got the 'all clear' the Martian quickly hoofed it to the living room. "Come on! It should be on any time now!"
"Okay, I still don't get why we're doing this," Raquel commented as she stretched across the couch Diana, J'onn and Oliver had taken. "The movie's over and the cleaning's done so… what are we waiting for again?"
"When Kaldur, Conner and I handled the cleaning during the last movie, we got to see something extra!" M'gann said excitedly. "I shared the memory with everyone else and I thought it'd be cool for us to watch this one together so I asked you guys to stay."
"You realize that there may very well not be anything at the end of this one, right?"
"There's only one way to find out," Artemis replied, brandishing the remote and hitting the fast-forward.
The movie shot past the obligatory reel of names, scrolling on and on, the anticipation building until…
"Aha!" M'gann cried triumphantly as Artemis skipped back to get to the beginning of the sequence.
"Reload."
The word boomed through the Cave before the screen grew lighter and revealed General Ross, decked to the nines in his uniform. At perfect odds with the spiffy-looking suit was the man's expression: haggard, exhausted… defeated. The man looked defeated and he seemed to be trying his best to drown his sorrows in man's worst best friend, knocking back a tumbler full of his drink with a wince. His cigar was present too: lit, held between his fingers and half-way smoked.
"Well, he looks like shit." Dick summarized succinctly.
"As much as a part of me feels like he deserves whatever's going on for what he did to Banner…" Zatanna sighed and shook her head. "He looks like he's going through a rough patch."
"Considering that he's still in uniform and isn't completely wasted yet, I'd say he just got out of a hearing. Military, maybe, or even as far as the Joint Chiefs or the Big Man himself." Artemis suggested. "Like it or not, he's definitely going to get super grilled for all that's just happened."
"She's right," Raquel nodded, getting pulled into the banter. "Property damage, loss of innocent lives… there is a lot he's gonna have to answer for and he doesn't even have the 'yeah but I got the McGuffin!' card to play. If he's still got his stripes, he should consider himself lucky."
He called for another shot after downing the last and stared at his reflection in a glass surface across the bar he was seated at. He sucked in a lungful of smoke and exhaled it with a scoff.
"He keeps going like this and he won't need to worry about another senate hearing," Conner remarked.
"He's old and he's made a few big mistakes," Wally shrugged. "I think allowing him to shave a few days off his future to calm down now can be overlooked."
As the General continued to push himself ever closer to the 'wasted' lands, the door was opened and a finely dressed man came in, the glare from the sun obscuring his features.
"The smell of stale beer and defeat."
"Oh~ this just got so much better! " M'gann grinned as a certain billionaire playboy's snarky comment echoed through the Cave.
"You know, I hate to say I told you so, General, but that 'super soldier' program was put on ice for a reason." Tony said as he slid onto the stool beside the older man. "I've always felt that hardware was much more reliable."
"Of course you would," Artemis rolled her eyes. "Never mind that it's the human element that handles the controls."
"You seem to have forgotten about JARVIS," Kaldur pointed out. "For Tony -and from what we've seen- JARVIS may very well be a better choice than most humans."
"Dude, you've never seen Terminator have you?" Wally stated with a deadpan stare. "We never pair advanced AIs with control of weapons man! That could spell the end of human civilization as we-" He suddenly grew silent as a light blue bubble of energy materialized around his mouth.
"Before we accidentally segue into breaking down the Terminator movies, let's finish this first, yeah?" A casual wave gave Wally his voice back.
Ross turned to his unexpected guest. "Stark."
"General." Tony returned.
The General gave his guest a once-over before saying, "You always wear such nice suits."
"Touché." Tony acknowledged before moving on to business, "I hear that you have an unusual problem."
"You should talk."
"Huh. I wonder what's going on with Tony," Zatanna remarked. "Sounds almost like he may still be facing a bit of a problem handling the full reformation of his company, especially now that everyone knows he's Iron Man!"
"Wait." Raquel pushed herself to her elbows. "Mister Smooth over there is the hero you guys were talking about?!"
"… we'll catch you up on this, no worries." Artemis vowed.
Meanwhile, onscreen, Tony's tongue was just as quick as ever: "You should listen."
Ross pulled the cigar out of his mouth and leaned forward, ready to duke it out with the billionaire only for Tony to swipe the wind from his sails with a single, enigmatic question:
What if I told you that we're putting a team together?"
Ross paused, mulling it over before asking: "Who's we?"
"Oh~ there's that Tony Stark smirk!" Wally hollered excitedly. "Looks like things are getting heated up!"
While the Team shared their thoughts on the post-credits scene, a certain Archer on the League smiled and snuck away from the Cave.
He had noticed his protege's quiet restlessness for the elders to leave earlier on, a trait he had then observed amongst the rest of the Team, and so he chose to linger on. It wasn't that he didn't trust them: he did. Implicitly, in fact. Rather, he was simply being a tad nosy and reaping whatever gossip he could for Dee.
Whatever the case he had definitely gained a bit from his spot of eavesdropping and, as he entered a temporary 'mute' command into the Zeta Platform's controls, he couldn't help but feel as excited as they did at the prospect.
'Putting together a team, huh?' He thought as the Platform glowed. 'I wonder…'